Has anyone gone on this tour? What are your thoughts?
Has anyone gone on this tour? I am torn between the "regular" version and the Jewish Heritage version. I am culturally Jewish but not religious. Did you feel that there were too many concentration camps, synagogues, etc.? Are you happy you went on this tour vs. the "regular" (not the Jewish Heritage) version? Any feedback is helpful.
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We went on the regular tour and there was plenty of Jewish history. Our tour director Mark, who I believe leads the tour quite often, gave us an entire narration of Jewish History while on the bus portions. There was opportunity to see synagogues in free time. It was one of our favorite tours. Since you say you are not religious, I think this tour would be fine for you.
I went on the regular tour 2.5 years ago. Like you, I am culturally Jewish, but not religious. I thought the Jewish tour would be too depressing. As British stated, there are plenty of Jewish sites on the regular tour. One thing I did during free time, was visit POLIN in Warsaw. Fabulous museum. It's included on the Jewish tour, but not the regular tour. I took a taxi to get there. In retrospect, I'm glad I chose the "regular" tour.
I went on this tour about 4 years ago. More than depressing it is disturbing. Disturbing that six million people were killed in cold blood. Primarily most were Jewish and slaughtered for the mere fact that they were Jewish. And then there were the righteous that hid Jews putting their own lives at risk. Will it surprise you that nothing is left of the "Jewish Quarter" in Poland? It's trip back in time~and 75 years later we are still asking how this happened. There would be no need for a museum in Poland about Jewish life if there were any Jews left to tell their own stories In addition the fact that it's not called a Jewish museum speaks volumes. How many are too many concentration camps, too many synagogues? Many of the synagogues that remain were restored even though the thriving Jewish communities that once worshiped there are no longer. In many instances people are just now learning that they are of Jewish ancestry.
British, being observant or religious has nothing to do with this tour. BKMD it's not a Jewish tour, it's a Jewish heritage tour. Actually, when I took this tour about a quarter of the group was NOT Jewish. The Holocaust was a horrible time in history that impacted mankind. Atrocities similar to the Holocaust are happening today. Pretty soon there won't be anywhere in the world to go~it may be too depressing.
We did this tour several years ago and loved it. Plenty of Jewish sites on this one, and plenty of time to visit other Jewish sites and/or other religious sites if you want to. The (optional) visit to Auschwitz is a must see, although it is obviously very upsetting. Our guide was Anne Marie who is Catholic but incredibly knowledgeable about all the religious sites and history of the area. The Polin Museum was just a newly constructed building without any exhibits when we were there. We actually arranged to go there on our own (a good walk from the Bristol Hotel) on our day before the tour started, but Marie had also arranged to take our group there on one of our outings.
I went on the Jewish Heritage tour in 2019. There were only 2 other people beside myself who were not jewish. The brochure stated it was not a religious tour but a HISTORY tour, I love history and thought it would be an adventure with learning. It turned out to be a huge disappointment and I wished I would have taken the regular tour. As a Christian, I did not know some of the culture and when I asked a question, I was ostracized and treated like I was invading "their" tour. The other jewish tourist were not mingling with us few Christians, treated us like pests, and I broke down and cried several times for the way one particular jewish man from New York would approach me and yell in my face. The other jewish tourist would not call him off or tell him to leave me alone. I told the tour director and he would say "I have already given him a warning." However, the abuse never stopped and when I called back to the USA to complain about how I was being treated, there was nothing they could do other than ignore me. This was my 5th Tauck tour and I had not experienced anything like this prior. The tour leader did not take control of this tourist to my detriment. The man should have been told to leave the group because he would to stop harassing me. The brochure should have stated more clearly it was for jewish tourist as there was no tolerance for others who didn't know culture or traditions.
Did that really happen that way?
BSP51 - Or maybe THM has an agenda...
This is simply an absurd and ignorant comment.
JudithVangor,
You need to do what feels right for you. I am of the opinion that we, collectively, must never forget those who perished and why they perished. Yes, the concentration camps are deeply disturbing and, in my opinion, more of a reason to see them.
BKMD, I believe, is absolutely correct. Moreover, Tauck's brochure did not state it was "not a religious tour but a history tour" as THM claims. The tour is characterized as a heritage tour.
His/her report is riddled with antisemetic inuendoes. It is unfortunate that some choose to use this forum for promoting their own agenda. That alone is reason to take the Jewish heritage tour.
Here is THM’s email, if you are all being so judgmental about her post why don’t you contact her
tinamosbey@gmail.com.
She has put her email in past posts, so I assume she won’t mind.
The current verbiage on the Tauck website for this tour states, "Become immersed in the cultural legacies and poignant history of the Jewish communities of Warsaw, Budapest, Vienna and Prague on this special Jewish heritage tour. " So I too would assume history was a big part of the tour.
Unless the question(s) THM asked were done in a rude manner, there's no justification for another Tauck guest repeatedly attacking them. If a Jewish person was touring the Vatican they certainly should feel free to ask questions and expand their understanding of a place/culture/history they might not be familiar with. We were lucky on a walking tour of the Paris Marais district to have a Jewish couple with us who explained items offered in a bakery and other bits of info about the area.
I went on this tour back in 2017 and was the only non Jewish person and had no problems. In fact we had a newly ordained young female rabbi on the trip,. They did prayers at some of the sites and included me in everything. Also we engaged in conversation on how I felt about some of the sites. We had a man on the trip that insulted the Hungarian local tour director, I actually stood up for her since I am part Hungarian. It was a great way to learn the history but it was emotional and draining but well worth the trip. Some other Americans need to do this trip to believe that the holocaust took place so it never occurs again.
I think it’s really considerate of Tauck to have special emphasis on this tour because they seem to have a large Jewish customer base.
When I took this tour, most of my Jewish friends said they could not have gone to Auschwitz. I told them I went for them, it will never be forgotten.
There is prejudice everywhere. On our last tour, someone who claimed themselves a southern baptist, told me there was still time for me to be saved.